Road maps issued by lubricating oil companies - Other Countries
Kroon Oil, Rollsynol, Sun Oils, Super-Penn
Introduction
Although numerous examples of maps from lubricant (as opposed to petrol) companies are known from Britain, France and, to a lesser extent, Germany, few appear to have been produced in other European countries.
Kroon Oil (Belgium)
Kroon Oil is a Dutch independent lubricant manufacturer established in 1906 and based in Almelo, whose products are commonly found in car spares shops across Benelux. This map is a stock 1996 Falk-plan map of Belgium, with customised card covers for Kroon Oil; as the text in is in French and Flemish it was presumably produced for the Belgian market, possibly as an on-pack promotion. The rear cover shows its Emperol 5W40 motor oil. |
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Rollsynol (Ernst Hürlimann, Switzerland)
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Rollsynol was the lubricant brand of Ernst Hürlimann of Wädenswil, Switzerland. Hürlimann became an early partner in the AVIA distributors' co-op, and still supplies a few hundred filling stations in Switzerland under the AVIA brand, although these days its oils are also branded AVIA not Rollsynol. |
Sun Oils (Wodoil, Austria)
Sun Oil Co (Belgium) is the master licensee for Sunoco lubricants and other branded products in 80 countries world-wide,
excepting the USA, Canada & Japan. It was incorporated on 4 April 1935 as Belgian Sun Oil Co and changed its name
to the current title in 1956 and is a quarter owned by Sunoco Inc. (USA) through a Dutch intermediary holding company.
Its status as an associate probably explains the unusual logo used on the map in the 1950s; today it uses the regular Sunoco sign.
The distributor for Sunoco products in Austria for more than 50 years has been Wodoil GmbH (formerly K. Wodrazka & Co.) of Vienna (Wien), and it was this Austrian company that issued the map shown below in association with Belgian Sun Oil Co and Sun Oil Co itself.
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This is described on the cover in English as being a Souvenir Map of Salzkammergut, Austria, showing Bad Ischl-Strobl, scene of the International Boy Scouts Jamboree, 1951: 3-13 August. "A hearty welcome to all delegates." Inside the map was a scenic panorama of the region with descriptions of excursions in English, German and French. The rear cover carries an advert for Sun Oils. |
Super-Penn (Belgium)
Nothing is known about Super-Penn lubricants, other than that cans bearing the name turn up very occasionally and around 1953 they sold this road map of Belgium for 15Fr.
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The map itself is pasted to a thick paper cover (similar to the ARA map but slightly bigger). It is by Etabl. Gen. d'Imp. from Brussels, like the ARA map. In the lower left corner is a large section with a promotional text which reads 'super-penn, la reine des penn, plus de kilomètres pour moins d'argent'. The back cover also contains advertising in French.
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Sinclair page, but no other lubricant maps are known from countries except Britain, France and Germany, although some are likely to exist; if you know of any, please send me an e-mail. Potential brands include Cepsa and Repsol from Spain before the petrol market was liberalised, Beverol, Deluxol and Olio Fiat/Selènia.
No other lubricant company maps from Austria are known. A Sinclair Opaline map of Switzerland is shown on the
Text and layout © Ian Byrne, 2003-11
All original copyrights in logos and map extracts and images are acknowledged and images are included on this site for identification purposes only.